


stolen moments on the shore

by towokuwusatsuwu



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Ghost
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, F/F, Interspecies Relationship(s), Introspection, Mermaids, Picnics, cute dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 04:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15163004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towokuwusatsuwu/pseuds/towokuwusatsuwu
Summary: Akari gave up trying to make time for romantic relationships in the midst of her college studies. Poppy is an exception in more ways than one, and Akari will always make time for her even though it's difficult.





	stolen moments on the shore

The path she takes to the ocean is closed off from normal eyes, off of the carefully paved streets of the city, over uneven grass and rocks jutting up through the earth, natural sentinels to warn away anyone from coming this way. Tsukimura Akari picks her way around them carefully, the picnic basket in her hands held carefully away from her body so none of the food she packed this morning is jostled too harshly to ruin it. She took great care in choosing everything she did, wanting to make sure it was only the most perfect meal she could put together.

With university ramping up toward finals, Akari only has so much free time to herself these days and making the way here is hard. Taking a bicycle is impossible through this grass, the rocks spread in just a way to make it impossible to ride. No other paths lead to where she is going today, as if someone had designed this space specifically so that no one would stumble upon it by accident. Only purpose allows her to navigate, stepping over the thick foliage so she doesn’t twist her ankle. The gate itself is an old one, half-hidden by vines and the tree hanging over it.

Her original plan coming here had been that she wanted some peace and quiet to study, the beach tempting her with the heavy scent of salt in the air and the waves lapping quietly at the shore. The reality was that too many people came to the beaches every day, the space louder than she wants, more lively than she can handle when she just wants to buckle down and study. A walk from the main stretch of beach had brought her here, and that day, she almost twisted her ankle when she tripped over a rock she hadn’t seen at first.

There are rocks jutting up from the water here as well, forming a small bay of ocean water whose entrances into the ocean itself are tunneled through the rock. If she wanted to, she could dive in and swim out to the sea, but she doesn’t. Instead, she kicks off her sandals and steps into the water that easily comes up over her knees. Her shorts are particularly short today to keep them from getting wet on her journey to one of the rocks in the center of the bay, smooth enough for a person to sit on comfortably.

She has tuna salad sandwiches carefully wrapped in cling film, green salad in a bowl with two forks set carefully on top of the lid, a couple of bags of sea salt potato chips, a few kinds of sushi rolls and a few sweet treats for later. The tuna salad is her attempt at opening up her girlfriend to a new experience while understanding at the same time that easing her into new experiences and treats is best done by offering her something familiar with a few simple changes or additions.

Akari knows she might have to wait a few minutes for her girlfriend to arrive and she pulls her knees up to her chest, resting her folded arms on top of them, tilting her head back to soak in the warm sunlight above her. She closes her eyes to shield them from the light. When she hears the soft, faint sound of something slapping against the water, the corners of her mouth twitch up in a smile. Only a few minutes, when she expected to wait longer.

“Akari!” The familiar bright, bubbly trill of a voice catches her attention and she opens her eyes, scanning the bay before she sees a familiar head poked above the top of the water. “Hi!”

When she waves, the head disappears beneath the water again just as quickly as she sees it, but from her angle she can see the shimmer of a body beneath the blue water. It never fails to amaze her, mostly the tail, long and pink and iridescent with three sets of fins that glisten softly in the sunlight, showing up green and blue and purple. When the head appears above the water again, this time it’s right next to her rock, and she scoots over just a little so the mermaid can pull herself up, her longest fins still trailing in the water.

“You got here sooner than I thought you would,” Akari admits, wetting her fingers as she brushes soft, cotton candy pink hair back. “I’ve been waiting for this all week, Poppy.”

Poppy smiles at her, her teeth always catching Akari off-guard just a little, sharp because they have to be, because her kind feed primarily on fish and other meaty sea creatures. “I was excited for today, too. The others know where I am this time, so they won’t interrupt us.”

Their last date had been a disaster because Poppy’s pod had grown anxious over her absence and came looking for her, meaning that Akari had to introduce herself far sooner than she expected to have to. Though it hadn’t been all bad, not in her eyes; the mers were beautiful, all different shapes and sizes and colors, and after Poppy explained to them who Akari was, they were more curious than ever. To them, most humans were dangerous and meant death.

But Poppy has always been curious so when Akari first climbed up on this rock, intent on soaking up the sunlight while she annotated her notes, Poppy came to see her. At first from behind, off to the side, always where Akari couldn’t quite see her until she was brave enough to introduce herself. The event changed Akari’s life, and she’d like to think for the better.

“I’m glad you told them this time.” Akari waits for Poppy’s grin to soften into a smile before she kisses her, always careful of her teeth, because if Poppy hurt her even accidentally, it would upset Poppy far more than it would her. “I brought things I thought you might like to try or things I thought you’d already enjoy eating.”

Poppy watches her curiously as she unpacks the picnic basket, the rock just wide and flat enough that she can arrange everything between the two of them without risking anything sliding off into the water. Just the same, she packed everything carefully and made sure nothing that might slide off into the water would be ruined from it. The plastic is airtight, the cling wrap secure. Poppy cocks her head at the sight of the little box of sushi.

“You told me people ate raw fish, but I didn’t think you were serious.” She stretches a hand out toward the box, her skin glistening in the sunlight. Here and there her skin shone with the same iridescence of her tail, pretty pinks and blues and purple that only brought it home how out of a fantasy storybook she seems. “Can I try some?”

“Of course. I picked everything out based on what I thought you might like just like I said.” Akari opens the container and holds it out ot her. “There are a few different varieties in here. I tried to keep in mind what kind of fish you said you regularly hunted and ate.”

Finding sushi based on those fish had been impossibly easy for Akari, though she is beyond grateful she was able to find them just the same. She gave herself plenty of time to look, but making this afternoon perfect for Poppy is important to her considering she hasn’t had a girlfriend in… Months. Years, really. She stopped dating when her science courses because more intensive and she realized she wouldn’t be able to balance a relationship on top of everything else. Chapters do not shorten themselves just so she can go on the occasional date, see a new movie that just came out. She has to figure out how to balance it all herself.

Choosing not to balance at all helped her in more ways than she’s willing to admit right now, but it was a strain when there were so many intelligent, funny, and beautiful women around her in her classes. But then Poppy had come along, and Akari knew she had to carve out time in her busy schedule no matter what it took because denying herself Poppy was not an option.

She watches Poppy pick out a sushi roll, holding it up to the sunlight, turning it this way and that to get a better look at it. Wrapped in seaweed and rolled in rice, the salmon is ruby red and glistening just slightly. She leans in just enough to sniff it, then tilts her head in Akari’s direction.

“Salmon?” she asks.

Akari nods and applauds her, unable to help herself. It makes Poppy giggle at her, and even if her teeth are mildly frightening, Akari loves making her smile. “You’re right, it is salmon. You said it was your favorite so I wanted you to try it. I thought you might have a better chance of liking something if you already had a taste for it.”

“That makes sense.” Poppy tosses the sushi into her mouth, head cocked to the side, thoughtful as she chews. When her eyes brighten and she leans over to take Akari’s hands in her own, Akari’s heart thumps just a little harder against her ribs. “Akari, it’s yummy!”

They pick their way through their lunch, Akari taking note of Poppy’s every reaction to the food so she can keep choosing adequate treats for her. She likes all of the sushi and the tuna sandwiches even if the bread perplexes her just a little, and she loves the salad—  _ it reminds me of seaweed a little, we eat that sometimes too _ — and she  _ adores _ the variety of sweets Akari chose, licking frosting off of her fingers.

When Akari pulls out her phone to check the time, Poppy touches her arm. “Do you have to go?”

“No. I made sure to make plenty of time for you today because I didn’t want to just run off on you again.” Too often, Akari has come to visit without being able to spare more than an hour, and it never feels like enough time to her. It feels so unfair to have to keep rushing off.

“That’s nice to hear. I like spending time with you, but you’re also so busy that it’s hard sometimes. Not that I’m never busy, of course.” Poppy moves a few of the empty containers back into the picnic basket, packing it with as much care as Akari had this morning. Then she scoots closer on the rock, wrapping both of her arms around Akari’s. “I had to leave that one time because I hadn’t realized we had to hunt at an earlier hour.”

Akari hums in understanding, trying to ignore the way her face burns at the close contact, swearing that it must just be the sunlight even though she had been careful to apply sunscreen. Not that she can’t handle the sun well, but the thought of getting sunburned and then not being able to come back out here for a week or longer isn’t appealing to her. After all, she and Poppy can’t very well text or talk on the phone. This is what they have together.

But she likes it this way. It might be a little harder to make time for each other but she always makes sure to set time aside from studying and class. Though it had taken a lot of talking herself down from walking away from this— a human and a mermaid, a creature she would have sworn couldn’t exist a few months ago— she knows better now.

She knows she loves Poppy even if it’s difficult to wrap her head around sometimes, and from the way Poppy always comes to see her, always seems to excited to see her, she must love her too, surely. At least, Akari hopes she does because Akari loves her so much sometimes that she worries what might happen if they can’t see each other anymore.

“Today, you’ve got me until sunset.” Akari takes Poppy’s hands in hers, the mer leaning slightly away from her to look her in the eye properly, proving just how seriously she takes this conversation. “And I’ve gone through my future plans to figure out when we can next meet.”

“You’re so capable. It’s dreamy.” Poppy giggles and Akari tries to pretend the way her face warms is the sun, again, before Poppy cuddles up beside her once more.

She slips her arm around Poppy’s waist, leaning back on her other arm, the warm slightly damp weight of her girlfriend at her side soothing her. “I just do what I can to make things work for us. It might not be perfect, but we make it work, right? And you’re happy, aren’t you?”

“Ah, you have so many doubts! Of course I’m happy with you.” Poppy turns and Akari’s breath catches in her throat when Poppy presses a kiss to her jaw. “And yes, we make things work very well I would think. You’re one of the first humans who hasn’t tried to kill us.”

“What a compliment. But I’ll take it.” Akari hesitates, and she knows she doesn’t have to, knows she can just have this, but she still pauses. It’s a hard habit to break.

Poppy seems to sense her hesitance because a slow smile spreads across her full lips before she puckers them, lashes resting softly against her cheekbones when she closes her eyes. Akari takes her in for just a moment before leaning in to kiss her, a hand slipping up into her hair, fingers tangling in the wet strands. Her lips are soft to the touch and softer against Akari’s and though she had been clumsy at first— not that Akari had been much better, little experience in contrast to Poppy’s no experience— she does it better now, moves her lips against Akari’s in a slow, steady rhythm, fingers curling loosely around the back of Akari’s neck.

Her mouth tastes sweet, lingering flavors from the desserts left over but there’s the slight tang of salt, the taste of the ocean on her lips. Akari loves the taste of her, strange that they might be to some people, the way her hair is fragrant with the sea air. The beach has always been a relaxing place for Akari and so Poppy feels like that personified, only her influence is stronger, that much more powerful, her impact leaving a lasting impression Akari can never shake. Not that she would ever try, of course.

They talk for hours. Akari tells Poppy about her studies, about how she wants to minor in marine biology just to have an excuse to learn more about Poppy’s world, everything she can. All the smaller details, all the interesting bits humans can never see from what little of the ocean they experience in their normal lives. In turn, Poppy describes when her pod of mers were caught up in a pod of dolphins, how they had raced through the waves together, the sleek silver streaks through the water contrasting with her colorful family.

Of course, they kiss. They kiss until Akari’s mouth is numb, until her brain is fuzzy around the edges and she laughs more freely than she has in a long time.

All too soon, the sun edges closer to the surface of the ocean, signifying the end of their date and telling Akari she needs to go home. Before she can find it in her to tell Poppy goodbye— the hardest part of every date, the one she never looks forward too— she hears a familiar flash and glances up, seeing the sunny gold of a mer tail disappear beneath the waves before a familiar head pops above the water, short black hair clinging to the merman’s face.

“Poppy!” Emu waves an arm through the air; Poppy giggles and waves back at him. “We have to go now. I’m sorry if I interrupted but it’s a bit late.”

“It’s okay Emu, I’m coming.” Poppy waits for him to vanish beneath the water again before turning to Akari with a small smile. “Sorry, but he’s right. We did leave things a bit late and I do have to go now. But I had a wonderful time! Your human food is delicious.”

Akari shakes her head, smoothing her fingers through Poppy’s hair gently. “You don’t need to apologize. It was about time for me to go, anyway. As long as you had a good time, I’m happy.”

For what it’s worth, she is satisfied. Being able to spend any time at all with Poppy means the world to her and she’s thrilled they were able to share this afternoon together almost all the way into sunset. Next time, they’ll be able to spend even more time together.

“I’m always happy when I’m with you.” Poppy kisses her, and hard, and Akari feels the slightest prick of her teeth before she shimmies off of the rock, splashing into the water hard enough that waves lap softly up the side of the rock, almost wetting Akari’s basket. “I love you, Akari!”

“I love you, too, Poppy.” Akari stands carefully on top of the rock so she can watch Poppy swim toward the rocky edge of this enclosure, the underwater caverns that will spill her back into the sea. For just a moment, she can see Poppy and Emu side by side.

When both of them are out of sight, Akari picks up her basket and heads for the shore. Though her heart is still aching from the fact she has to walk away now, there’s a slow hope growing inside of her that she’ll be able to see Poppy again soon. And Poppy loves her. Impossibly, improbably, Poppy loves her back and one way or another, the two of them are going to make this work. Akari is sure of it.


End file.
